Tokenization of Everything, Even Yacht Outings

They are using blockchain technology to streamline the process chartering a yacht, which opens up a lot more avenues for both the high net worth and affluent customer segments.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger in which every node (or party) keeps a record of the ledger, which updates all nodes when a transaction or smart contract executes on the ledger.

OceanScape Yachts has releasedOceanScape Coin, a token which is made up of two parts.

The first part is an ERC20 token (or, utility token) calledOSY, pegged to the US dollar, which allows users to purchase and charter yachts uniformly on their platform using cryptocurrency, regardless of what currency their country uses.

The second part is the OSCA Coin, a companion ERC20 token functioning as a digital asset.

OSCA can be converted to OSY and fiat through a holding fund, financed over time with transaction fees from sellers.

While the former is currency and the latter is an alternative asset, they both function on top of the Ethereum blockchain, and the purpose of the bipartite OceanScape Coin is to streamline transactions and save users money.

With OceanScape Coin, the company incentivizes users to sign up for Premium Membership, letting them use the coin to save an average of 15% on yacht vacations, amounting to an average of >$8,000 for up to a 40-meter class yacht.

This opens the market to a wider field of customer demographics within the high-net-worth and affluent customer segments already patronizing the space.

Another use case where blockchain seems poised to improve the yachting market is a company called Boatsters.

The company’s technology uses Proof-of-Market algorithms on their proprietary blockchain, along with their own custom wallet-to-wallet solution, to allow anyone to charter a yacht with any of 55 different cryptocurrencies.

Boatsters contrasts their technology with Coinbase, BitPay, and Mollie because of the transaction security flaw inherent in their transaction service providers’ ability to halt transaction execution at any time for any reason.

The company has a portfolio of 12,000 rental boats spread out globally and according to the site, the demand from boats has exceeded supply.

Though there are fewer data points demonstrating blockchain technology’s full market disruption potential, the few there are offer a window into a possible future of luxury travel.

Such a future–one conducted over the internet and through cryptocurrency exchanges, rather than in person and sometimes in a foreign country–will see an influx of people from a wider variety of backgrounds than is typical of this consumer market.